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I was wondering if you need DM permission to rp one. LOL last night before i went to bed I thought it would be awesome for my Bounty Hunter to have two partners, the first an Albino warrior that my char fell in love with and rescued from something and second a magic using Goblin who saved the both of us in return for his freedom and now can't get rid of.

When I get a job and know what times I will be playing I'll try and see if anyone would be interested in Rping the two.

Albino drow sounds so funny, but unless it was born on the surface would it not of been killed at birth?

Yep, it would.

Quote:

Playing a character with non-standard skin tones for the race or class requires a request (a white-skinned Chultan, black-skinned elf, pale-skinned drow and so on...).

From here.

Edit: It also probably would've been killed at birth. Maybe it could get away with being raised by shadow elves who didn't know any better, but I doubt it; the red eyes of drow are quite distinctive, and shadow elves are naturally quite crafty after so long as their underground neighbours.

There's mention made somewhere of albino drow being seen among some drow cultures as a blessing from Lolth, since they can be sent to the surface to pose as moon elves and spy on the darthiiri. They're called "szarkai" or some such thing, and I'd quote the reference if I could remember where it's from.

Liz wrote:

There's mention made somewhere of albino drow being seen among some drow cultures as a blessing from Lolth, since they can be sent to the surface to pose as moon elves and spy on the darthiiri. They're called "szarkai" or some such thing, and I'd quote the reference if I could remember where it's from.

Is it from the source in this link?

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Szarkai

Yes, albino drow exist, though whether they would have been killed at birth or ushered into the life of a spy depends. Yes, you would need permission/RP request to play one.

Last edited by IronAngel on Fri, Oct 04 2013, 21:01 PM, edited 1 time in total.

I've never bought the whole "killed off at birth" thing, to be honest. Is there an actual source for it, or is it just one of those Amian things that were repeated often enough to become accepted without question? Maybe in some higher noble circles, where it's a social embarrassment. But you must remember that nobility make up only a small fraction at the top of society. Most drow live quite ordinary lives in the muck, associating with all sorts of races, faiths and people, caring more about survival than social standing and reputation. For them, it would be very much a practical question. Killing off something you've wasted energy on carrying for over a year (or however long drow pregnancy is) with no returns seems very unpractical. And there can be a lot of practical benefits for having an albino lackey in the family, even if it wasn't interpreted as a blessing. All in all, I doubt it's as much of a hindrance in drow society to be an albino (even less so for the family), as long as you're not in a visible social position among the nobility or something.

And to go further, I have a hard time believing even an evil race like drow wouldn't feel some kind of parental attachment. Perhaps not the socially conditioned motherly love we know, but a child would be the object of hopes and pride. The main thing about offspring is that they carry on your legacy after you die. A lineage is the only way the average person has of immortalizing themselves. That goes for any race, fantasy or otherwise: both biology and culture drive individuals to reproduction. Drow are certainly not as touchy-feely about it as the average human, but they're not as alien as to discard children entirely casually. Even when it is a sacrifice to Lolth, it's something that matters.

Much of this also stems from my belief that drow aren't some eugenics-fanatical, pure master race of perfect uniformity. People like to portray them as such, which I find a shame. I see their society is colorful and exotic, ranging from the grotesque and freakish to the fantastical and beautiful. They use brightly-dyed clothes, eat spicy food, their bazaars are bustling with activity, "lower" races scurry about the streets and markets as often as drow do, just not as noticed. They play all sorts of games, create diverse art, indulge in all sorts of vices. Granted, my impression isn't explicitly proven by any lore. Neither is the opposite view. It comes down to interpreting the gaps based on the "feel" we have of drow society. And I feel that kind of totalitarian, monolithic and gray drow culture where deviants are immediately eliminated is the wrong idea. It's way too extreme.

Why would you want an albino drow curiously?

All drow PCs on amia are either nobility or surfacers, just for reference Iron. Though I understand your point.

IronAngel wrote:

I've never bought the whole "killed off at birth" thing, to be honest. Is there an actual source for it, or is it just one of those Amian things that were repeated often enough to become accepted without question?

I've read it in a sourcebook, can't recall which. It's definitely an embarrassment and they are shunned or killed at birth. Or made into spies, etc.

Also if you're not a pure blooded drow you are shit out of luck for the most part. pretty sure it's in the source material that non-purebloods might as well kill themselves. But, then, it depends on if you're in a Lolthite society or not.

edit: And why do you keep making new threads about making a dorw >_> Just stick to the same one. My OCD, argh!

The only reference I can remember about drow killing children for being different was in daughter of the drow, and that was not imperfections like hair or eye or skin colour but things that actually made them physically weak or ugly (which can be a huge weakness for a drow) and it also says that older drow who become afflicted like that are also often killed.

And anyway albino drow ARE considered a blessing from Lolth herself and are even specially protect as being and invaluable resource, although they are only like 1 in 10000 or so if I recall correctly.

Also I've seen more than a few over the years without a request, they are extremely odd but are not an unnatural colour for drow... Just a rare one.

Aiseth wrote:

Why would you want an albino drow curiously?

I was looking at Bing images of drow and came across a few albino ones and liked them, guess the idea slowly started to form from there. My char will be jet black, thought the albino char would be a unique contrast with my char. I keep seeing visions of the two along with the goblin in comic book style images and going on adventures in my head.

My Character in its own right will be an honored slave. She was taken at birth from spoils of war from a rival clan (Blood of Clan retainer not a noble) and over the years showed certain talents that led to her training as a bounty hunter. So I guess her upbringing will be a little different than most drow Pc's on Amia. And while away on a mission her surrogate Family were wiped off the map by another rival Noble house and since then she has been a wandering Independent Bounty Huntress.

LOL my bad about the Multiple threads, i should have made just one called drow questions and rattled them all off there.

We have Szarkai on Amia

bobofwestoregonusa wrote:

All drow PCs on amia are either nobility or surfacers, just for reference Iron. Though I understand your point.

I've ever only once played a noble-born drow. The nobles I am talking about are the children of matrons and the immediate family. Not just any retainer or mercenary. Most PCs probably aren't noble-born. They shouldn't be, anyhow.

What we see in most of the novels are the narrow elite at the very top of society. I don't remember what Daughter of the Drow said about weaknesses, but it deals with a descendant of the first house of Lolth's favored city. Hardly representative of the thousands of merchants, artisans, miners, mushroom farmers, rothe herders, hunters and paupers that make up the bulk of drow society.

I also don't think there's such a thing as pure Lolthite society. Even Menzoberranzan, model example of monolithic Lolthism, is a cosmopolitan and bustling city of numerous races and faiths at the street level. The impression you get from the slum descriptions of WotSQ is certainly not one of a stuffy, puritanical community where the common people would care enough to have a problem with some oddity. They are too busy fending for themselves and striking deals to read mystical signs into every abnormal phenomenon they see. Interpreting the whims of Lolth is a luxury for the educated elite.

That's how I see a society realistically working, anyway. We have to put ourselves in their shoes and wonder if the generalization we read in short game book blurbs is really the whole picture. People are prone to misrepresent and over-stress Otherness, be it fantasy or real.

I don't disagree with anything you said Iron. But we all know that Amia lore is sometimes a bit home-brewed. The DMs have ruled:

Galenson wrote:

...Unless requested otherwise, your Drow PC is automatically considered of Noble Standing.

Now along with what you said, the way I've sort of always pictured Amia's little petri dish of drow is that the PCs we play are the narrow elite at the very top of society, and those pesky NPCs represent the rest of the various races and riff raff.

Anatida wrote:

I don't disagree with anything you said Iron. But we all know that Amia lore is sometimes a bit home-brewed. The DMs have ruled:

Galenson wrote:

...Unless requested otherwise, your Drow PC is automatically considered of Noble Standing.

I have nothing to say except: lmfao. Good thing I don't have to deal with this nonsense anymore. :roll:

Either way, that has no bearing on my point. Whether some backwater town's NPCs consider my common-born fighter a "noble" by their standards, that PC (nor most PCs on Amia) never had an upper-class upbringing or were of immediate blood relations to a matron. Just because you serve a house doesn't make you a noble in social status and education, and so the same standards of eugenics that a matron's daughter may be subject to would never have been applied to most drow. "Amian noble" or not, most PCs were not born in such circumstances that it would have mattered yet. And more generally, we should not draw lore conclusions from bad executive decisions that have more to do with managing NPC relations than actually saying anything about the origins of your character.

I've always thought Drow roleplay was overstylized and massively exaggerated popular 'nasty' traits of our dear Underdark elves. To the extent that you could call it a race towards who embodied these ideals the most ruthlessly; they'd float to the top. It's a pity for the Drow. I'm not a roleplay genius, and especially my first two years when I played Drow almost exclusively were marred by bad play and lack of lore knowledge. But I can tell a cop-out when I see it. The move to a non-Lolthite city was good, that helped bring about some more opportunistic concerns for the old clergy and powers. Y'all know what I'm getting at anyway. Drow are still overstylized. Let them have their moments of mercy, guilt, love, all those cool things that automatically make your former monster race more believable and approachable. Let that dude play an albino and give him the benefit of the doubt. If such an albino survived the Underdark, I'm sure it'll have a tale to tell.

Galenson wrote:

...Unless requested otherwise, your Drow PC is automatically considered "of Noble Standing."

Iron is partially correct: the request element is a way to identify that the DMs need to respond to your PC differently.

This decision was made due to the significant portion of Drow players considering themselves "of noble standing" upon character creation. It is also common practice for most Amian Drow houses to consider its members "of noble status" even if they aren't blood related to the Matron. Because of that, commoners being the minority were easier to track thus the request fell upon them. Remember also that this applies only to Nec'perya and its NPC population due to the events that led to Nec'perya's founding in the first place: if you try that in L'Obsul, you'll probably be thrown down the pit.

In saying that, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to request one. If you really want to play a commoner Drow PC, it'll take an extremely good reason for myself or Dusty not to approve it. I personally do not like to use the word request in this context either: I see it more as a formal identification.

As for the topic itself... my toon is the epitome of being out of the ordinary. I'm all for promoting something different, but within reason. We can't be having half Drow, half badgers with dragon blood riding cassowaries into raids against crossbred pixie-rat unicorns.

I don't see an Albino Drow being beyond reason for the record. I'm interested to see the request for such in all honesty.

Albino Drow

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